The Living Dead - Why I Hate Theme Parks
by Mariejanekay
Summary: It's Halloween. Axel really doesn't want to accompany 13-year-old Roxas, his cousins and friends to the theme park to play the babysitter, but he ends up having a good time. The Halloween-Zombie-Special comes up, having actors dressed as fictional characters and living dead roaming the theme park's streets. But wait. Why are the actors suddenly attacking visitors!
1. I - Theme Park

**I – Theme Park**

"Are you as excited as I am?!". I roll my eyes. "Oh, yeah. I'm so excited, I can hardly keep it together". "Hey, Ax", Ventus chimes in, "He's only 13, okay? It's his very first theme park, so at least try to be nice". I roll my eyes again. Why had I even come along? Oh, yeah. Because my mother had _emaccidentally/em_ mentioned that I liked theme parks when Roxas and Ventus's mum had thought of people to take care of Roxas, as he couldn't go alone and Ventus had other things on his mind than running around with his little brother when there were fantastic roller coasters to ride.

As though I hadn't.

On the bright side, their parents are paying my ticket and additionally 50 bucks for taking care of that kid. Anyway, Roxas had brought his friend Xion along, so there was nothing much to worry about. I sigh.

"Okay, so it's your first theme park, huh? And then you chose to go on Halloween night? With actors running around, dressed up as zombies and weirdos and...". "Stop scaring him!", Sora shouts from behind me. God, did they bring their entire family along?! "I'm sure he can talk for himself just fine!", I snap back at him. Jesus, he is annoying as hell.

Sora is the cousin of Roxas and Ventus, who are two years apart. He is as old as Ventus and brought his brother, Vanitas, along, who is just one year younger than me but creepy as hell. From the entire family, he's the only one who has golden eyes instead of bright blue ones. And, I almost forgot, he is dating Ventus.

Sigh. Opposites attract, I guess.

"So, Roxas, are you excited?". Him being thirteen is hard to imagine at times. Sometimes he acts like he's nine, and two seconds later you could think he was 17. Whatever his age, he is cute as fuck. "Yeah, totally! And, as for the zombies, I know they're actors. So I guess I'll be fine". I smile and ruffle his hair, really regretting his young age.

Sigh.

"God, can you two keep it down?! There are children around!", Sora yells at his brother and his boyfriend, who are almost grossly making out. "Hey!", both Roxas and Xion exclaim. "We're not children anymore!".

Xion is one of Roxas's best friends. She is one year older than him, but a lot more mature. Though shy and sweet, she is probably one of the funniest kids I know.

Oh, you might wonder why I know them all so well when the only one close to my age is Vanitas. Well, I had to repeat a year, so I had a couple of classes with Ventus and Sora, who are both 15, two years younger than me. I spent a lot of time with Ven, since I'd had the biggest crush on him and therefore met Roxas and Xion because she was with him almost every day. I also babysat her sometimes because we got along well and her parents trusted me.

"Oh, oh, Axel, look! The park, I can see it!". Roxas excitedly tugs on my sleeve, pointing outside. "Yeah, I see it as well". "Where, where?". Roxas bends forward to show Xion what he's seen and I smile. Why did he have to be so young?

The bus comes to a halt and everyone rushes out. I try to keep my little group together, but mostly fail; Ventus runs off with his cousins and if Xion hadn't gripped both mine and Roxas's hand, I surely would have lost them.

We show our tickets and pass the barriers before we finally enter. The kids' eyes grow huge as they take a look around. I have to say, I barely regret coming here anymore.

After hours of waiting, riding ridiculous roller coasters and attractions, buying candy and taking photos, we finally have a seat in one of the cafés, having a perfect view on the street. Monster time is about to begin.

I quickly text Ventus where we are and smile at the two people we've brought along; while waiting in line for a ride in Dora's crazy what-is-water-on-spanish-mountain, I got to talk to a guy my age; he has dirty blond hair, styled into a mix of mullet and mohawk – mullethawk maybe – and cyan eyes. He's almost my height with a healthy shape and a freaking friendly face. Demyx is his name. With him is a boy Roxas' and Xion's age. He has blue-whiteish hair and dark blue eyes, looking a little emo to be honest. With Roxas and Xion already being small, he is even tinier and pretty slim. Demyx introduces him as Zexion.

Demyx is in the same situation as me; he had to accompany his friend's brother because said friend got ill. When I asked them to join us, the younger ones all cheered – they had made friends just as quickly as I had.

The blond and I were pretty alike; we both adored music and parties and liked the same genre of films and books. I was glad I had someone to talk to.

"So here they come", Demyx says and I look up from my phone. Fog machines produce clouds of fog which quickly spread throughout the streets. It's already dark and music from well-known horror movies is being played. Quick flames are being shot up from pyros on the roofs. Grinning at Demyx, we see that the kids are already frightened.

And then we see them.

You hardly notice them at first; among the crowd moving through the streets, they're pretty invisible. But once you look closer, you suddenly spot them: a blood-splattered ballerina with Edward Scissorhands' hands. A guy with a cage on his head. A dead woman. Mummies. A guy with a motor saw. Clowns. Vampires. And damn, they look realistic.

Some hold on to take pictures with people who ask, others chase frightened teenagers and grown-ups around.

"They look pretty real", Roxas chirps from almost under the table. The cafés, shops and outside areas to sit are safe, so we're watching from security. "And scary", Xion stutters. Demyx and I grin at each other, before he scares them from behind. I laugh and high five him. I have the feeling I have found a new friend.

One and a half hours as well as 67 hot chocolates later, Xion, Roxas and Zexion have calmed down again and we're having multiple conversations with each other, when my phone buzzes. I fish it out to read the message Ven has written me. em_Run. Just leave the park. I'm srs. Hurry"/em_. I shake my head with a smile. Of course he had to try to scare me. em_Yeah. Sure. We're so scared. Ermergerd_/em, I reply and look at Xion, who is tugging my sleeve. She looks frightened. "Axel, why are these people running away?". I turn around and intend to shrug, when I see the cause.

"FIRE!".

We all jump up, shouldering our backpacks as fast as we can and start running. Fuck, Ven was right. Where were they, anyway? We head for the entrance, when I notice that some of the actors and actresses are clearly not. Something seems terribly wrong. Is that just fake fire? No, I can smell it.

We all jerk our heads to the side when we hear the definitely worst and scariest scream I've ever heard. A woman's encircled by "zombies" and I have to admit that they look even realer than the ones I've seen until now. "Really, how come they have time to – ". I can't end my sentence because one of the undead bites her. Like, really. Not fake. "What the -?!", Demyx yells and I'm some sort of thunderstruck because of what I see. The undead are tearing her apart. Limbs. Skin. Guts. I'm thrown back into reality when someone screams and my new friend violently yanks my arm. Xion throws up and I feel I'm close to that, too.

What the fuck is happening?!

"Axel!". Oh, no. _emRoxas/em_. I abruptly stop, turn around and try to find Roxas, which is real damn hard because people keep bumping into me. "Roxas, where are you?!", I desperately yell. It's not the fire anymore; obviously, it hasn't been following us from the start; it was just one tree or something. The real cause... . "Axel!". Finally spotting him, I run towards him and pick him up. "Are you hurt?". Before he can reply, I hear someone screaming: "They're closing the doors!".

em_What?/em_

"Come on", I mutter, trying to get through the crowd, but when the huge portal is in sight, it's already too late.

We're caught.

It seems that more people than I thought made it out; there's only like 70 or so left. At east on this side of the park.

I find Demyx and Zexion, as well as Xion, who stayed with them and ask them why they're not running anymore. He motions behind me.

It looks like there's some kind of barrier for the zombies or whatever they are; they stop at a certain point and growl at us. If I hadn't seen limbs and dead people on the streets, I would have guessed this was part of the show. Somebody points upwards and I spot the cause – it's a huge light, pretty bright. So it seems to be blinding light is what keeps them away. Some people don't make it within the safe range though.

We're all calming down as far as possible. There's blood on the street and here and there you can see a limb. Somebody mentions having seen more of these flood lights and so most people start heading out in the morning. We have a pretty small space indeed; not even shops are in range. A man tells me he and his group are trying to put up signs which show where "the zone" starts.

The five of us sit down and it seems to be safer than at night if you're not too loud. I look at Demyx. "What are we gonna do?". Before he can reply, I hear a sob. "Axel, can you... can you call Ventus?". I nod, pull him into a hug and take out my phone. No connection. "I guess the lines are dead". The blond's eyes fill up with more tears. "I promise you we will find them. We will".

"Then", Demyx says, "We should start searching. As long as the sun's shining, we're safer, I guess – at least I haven't heard a single scream this morning. We should also stock up on food". He sounded calm, but his eyes and hands tell a different story. He's shaking and his eyes are full of fear. I look at the kids, who are tired and obviously scared, and I nod. "We gotta go".


	2. II - Fear

**II – Fear**

We're moving slow and quietly because we still have no idea where these undead hide. Soon we're on the street where all the shops and cafés take place and we decide to pack as much as we can – we're definitely not planning on staying in this park, but before we can even try to leave, we will have to find Ventus, Vanitas and Sora.

Since none of us has eaten since late afternoon the day before, we decide to stuff some cake into our mouths as we keep walking. "Where are we even going?", Xion asks nervously. "You do have a plan, don't you?". All the eyes land on me and I swallow hard. "Well, I have no idea where they've last been, but if I had connection, I could try to track their phone, you know".

"You don't even have an idea where they _could_ be?! Axel, we're never gonna find them like this. The park is huge and I can imagine they're also looking for us. This is hopeless. We'll never find them". I wish I could have held back my anger, but instead, I yelled at all of them. "What then? What then?! Does any of you have a better idea? Clearly not. So would you all please just fucking stop blaming me? It's not my fault we're here, okay? I didn't spread a virus. So if you want to keep sitting here, pouting that you're never gonna find them, fine. I will look for them. Chances are someone's hurt and seriously, this fucking park isn't too big to not run into each other some when. But I'll make it up to you. You wanna stay here, get killed and pity yourselves? Okay. See ya". I cross my arms and give them my most sarcastic look. Maybe I've been a bit too harsh, but come on! Who can blame me? We've just got overrun by a bunch of zombies or whatever they are. It's not like you can stay sane like this.

None of them says a word. They just stare at the ground and eventually, Xion nods. "Axel's right, guys. We have no choice. And as soon as we've found them, we can get out, right? No problem. We should just avoid getting killed". She's pretty tough for a 14-year-old. The others agree, or at least pretend to, so we take out a map and figure out where to go first. "So we're here, right? I guess we manage to get through the entire park at least twice before night dawns. Until then, we should have found a place to stay the night and – in case we're extremely lucky – our friends. So, I suggest we get going now!". And so we do.

After having searched the entire park twice, both careful and intense, we find ourselves inside of a small house, whose actual purpose was just to look decorative, so there's no heating or anything like that. The younger ones, especially Zexion, whose legs are really too short and skinny to keep up with me or Demyx any longer, definitely need a break, so we sit down and try to come up with a plan. We're in a bit of a conflict because the kids are supposed to stay in the house a little, while we want to search some flashlights and blankets (or at least stuff that can be used as such). It's just that Demyx really refuses to leave them alone, in case something happens. And he is right; the fear in all of their, no, all of our eyes is so intense it almost hurts. We're vulnerable and we don't know whether we'll ever get out alive. And, seriously, nobody plans dying at such a young age. We all have plans...

"I'll come with you, Axel".

All of our heads turn towards the young blond who had just volunteered to come along. Before I can even try to protest, he says: "It's still daytime, right? So basically, nothing can happen. And I'm also a part of the group and seriously, I want to get home as badly as you guys. I want to help". He's made his point and I won't deny his wish, so we both get out of the house. I look around; it's already getting darker. Fuck.

"Where could they only be, Axel?". He whispers and grabs my hand. I know it's more than inappropriate, but I feel delighted and warm at the touch. "I guess they've hidden, found themselves a place to stay, like we did. But, Roxas, I promise you, we're gonna find them". He nods and it's killing me to see how sad he is. But who could blame him?

I almost barf at the first dead body I examine, looking for a flash light, simply because he's dead and so blood-splattered that I could shower in it. The reason I picked him was that he was a security guard and those usually carry any sort of light around. And indeed, after rummaging in his bloody pockets, I find a small flash light, which is better than none.

Roxas, who seems to get slightly used, like me, to see all the dead and the blood, and I roam the streets further to hopefully find another security guard that hasn't been turned into a zombie. We're inside of a café because I promised Roxas a little treat, as I hear something. Looking outside, I frown – is it already that late? Neither Roxas nor I have a watch and my phone's battery died last night. I motion the younger to be quiet and carefully get up. I look around, searching for any sort of weapon and find nothing else than a decorative pan1, which I grip tightly. If I need to kill, so I shall.

But instead of a zombie, I spot a familiar mess of brown spikes and gleeful blue eyes. "Oh my God, Axel, Roxas! You're alive!". The three of us break out into laughter and hug and cry and just hold each other, because nothing is more relieving than finding a tiny piece of home, of familiarity.

While grabbing a muffin, Sora reveals what had happened so far; he, Ven and Vanitas had just escaped the escalation, staying inside one of the roller coasters. Then, when they'd been looking for food, he had got separated from the group and has been searching them ever since (this afternoon, to be honest). They'd got split up because Vanitas had accidentally awoken a zombie by stepping on his hand and he'd run after them.

Good news was that the other group had decided to wait. They'd figured that my group would be searching for them and therefore they'd set themselves a limit until when they'd wait. And since we had Sora in now, finding them wouldn't be a problem. Roxas and I started telling him what we've found out so far about an hour ago and I'm glad Sora knows how to properly comfort him; I'm not good at stuff like that.

If only we hadn't forgotten about the time.

I get up, listening to Sora's happy babbling (surprisingly, he hadn't lost his optimism yet, despite having seen probably far too many bodies for one life time. He's on drugs, I swear), not paying attention to the windows or the door, when I suddenly hear the most gruesome sound I have ever heard all my life. We turn our heads and I start to panic. Fuck, how are we supposed to find the way back to our "house" now? The flash light wouldn't be much of a help.

We've all fallen silent, but when I spot the first undead, I yell, "RUN!".

We escape through the side door and run for our dear lives, but they're everywhere. No kidding, wherever we turn, we are almost overrun by another wave of them. Unlike most horror movies, these real life zombies are fast. Real fast.

My eyes try to focus, somewhere, anywhere must be a sign of our safe place. But then I remember – if we managed to get there, they would find the others as well. Damn, this is more than just a dilemma.

I try to think straight, think of the zone, where it was – and then I spy the flood light, about 50 yards to our right. "Guys, hurry!". Both of the boys are smaller than me and therefore can't run as fast, but they keep up well. Until our way is blocked by about six undead. Even though it's definitely not the right time, I can't help but examine them a bit.

Their human features still visible, most of what looks like the pest covers their faces and bodies. Whatever it is they're infected with also seems to be itchy, as all of them have torn shirts, trousers and bleeding scraps on their skin. Their eyes have all turned into either a bright yellow or a muddish brown, sometimes a mix of both. Some are missing features, like a jaw, an arm or even the eyes, but there seems to be a connection with their eye colour; the ones with the bright eyes are highly intact, whereas the more damaged they are, the darker their eyes. "There's no other way than to run right through", Sora pants, and so we do. Two yards away from our goal, the safe zone, I hear a pained scream. My blood runs cold. Roxas is still behind me, so it has to be...

"Sora".

1Raise your hand if you see the L4D reference here :D


	3. III - Cold

**III – Cold**

I try to hide the worst from Roxas, but I myself can't stop looking; the last thing I see before they attack the brunette are his pain filled blue eyes, terrified and full of fear. Then the biggest one obviously jerks him too hard because I see the skinny arm rip off, blood splattering all over the place. Sora's screams become the worst I have most likely ever heard. The pain pairs with desperation and fear as they rip him apart, piece by piece. We're safe, but our hearts are not.

I drag the sobbing boy away, fighting my own tears. "Axel, wait", Roxas sobs and when I stand still, he pukes directly onto his feet. "Hey!", I cry out and take him into my arms. "Roxas, I...". I can't stand it any longer. I break down right there with the shaking boy crying into my chest. We somehow manage to carry ourselves to our "house", where the others are already waiting. Telling them what happened, Xion starts crying too. While we try to comfort ourselves, Demyx suggests we go look for Ventus and Vanitas, and he is right – even though our loss is so damn tragic, we can't leave the others alone. On the map we've picked up from the café we look for the roller coaster Sora has described. Unfortunately, it's on the other side of the park. And it's dark outside. We'll have to stay here until the next day, there's no other choice. "But... but... Axel, what if they'll find us?". Zexion's eyes are so full of fear. "I... we should try to use our flash lights. I have a pan... and... we could run?". The others agree as we have no other choice. And so we wait.

"Axel?", a shy voice asks me and I look up. I'm on watch alone, which is terrible as I always have images of Sora being torn apart flashing my brain and no one's there to talk me out of it. Blue eyes pierce mine with a look so sad it kills me some more inside. "I'm cold". Looking at him more closely, I see that his lips are blueish and he's pale as fuck. No wonder, he's in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he's lost his jacket somewhere. "Why don't you cover yourself with a blanket or, I dunno, one of these jackets we've collected?", I ask softly, gently rubbing his back. He shrugs. "They have all of them. And I don't fit there anymore". Glancing their way, I spot the three others below jackets and blankets, all snuggled up. I snarl. "Then come here". I offer the blond the half of my jacket and he gladly slips into my arms, wrapping his arms around me. I can't help but blush, even though it's so damn inappropriate, but it is so comforting.

_"__Axel!". I turn my head and look at him. "Hey!". I take him into my arms and laugh. "Saïx! Why are you here?". He smiles. "Oh, we've just come here to visit. Like, no. We're on our way to New York and we thought we'd stop by". I let my oldest friend go and we talk a lot before my mum calls us for dinner. My friend's parents are here too and all of us are chatting cheerfully._

_My favourite song comes on. Ventus and I, we're dancing, his body is so close to mine. I can still taste my last cigarette. He is so close. The blond, soft hair, his grey-blue eyes... why is he not mine already? "I love you", I mutter, but he can't hear it – it's plain too loud. And maybe it's better this way._

"_Oh and you're the maid, okay?". Her blue eyes gleam and really, I just have to say yes, she's far too cute. "Okay", I agree and pretend cleaning the "house" we built. It's some sorta difficult; she's like 5'1'' and I'm about 6'4'', but we handle it well. I actually like babysitting her, simply because she's such a cute and easy kid._

I jerk my eyes open. What the hell was this?! Flashbacks? Am I dead? My pulse is racing. Roxas's head is resting on my chest and I wrap my arms around him as tight as I can without hurting him and desperately start to bawl.

All of us are cold. It's on our faces, in our eyes. At some point, it has gotten so cold that none of us were able to sleep anymore. We're all just staring outside, our eyes hollow. The next day just doesn't seem to arrive. All we can hope for is finding some rest tomorrow, but there's no promise. We will head out and find Ven and Vanitas, but what we'll do then is written in the stars. Of course we'll leave this goddamn park. But again, no promises. I don't even want to know whether this plague has also attacked the rest of the city, if not the world.

There's a scratch on the door once, but all of us keep quiet and with a growl, we hear the creature lurk away.

The cold is in our bones, beneath our clothes, under our skin, in the air. It's everywhere and we can't fight it.

Until we see a warm gleam through the windows. The day has finally broken.

"Time to get going, guys!".


	4. IV - Finally

**IV – Finally **

The streets are empty, but still we move on quickly, but as quietly as we can. The roller coaster they're hiding in – as we hope they still do – is at the other end of the park. We're pretty confident that as long as we find them, we'll make it out of the park in no time. We've already had "breakfast" in our little place and we've hardly anything left.

"Ewww!", Xion calls out. I turn around to see what's made her exclaim, but I immediately wish I had not. The body of a zombie girl has been torn open by one single cut, making her insides pop out. I swallow hard because of two reasons; a) to keep me from throwing up and b) from thinking about what the heck is living here that tears zombies apart.

Other than that, the short trip is rather eventless. After some time of being safe, Demyx started casually chatting with Roxas. My tension rose.

The roller coaster was obviously more of an attraction than a real ride; the waggons looked rusty and unsafe, the colour splattered off and faded. "Looks like no one's been here for years", I mutter and want to step inside. "Wait!". I turn my head, frowning. Why would I wait? "What if they're not there anymore?", Roxas asks. "Well, then we'll have to look somewhere else". - "And what if there's zombies in there?". I open my mouth to say something, but I can't think of anything. I blink a couple of times and look around. Finding a nightstick isn't hard; the roller coaster had had something to do with Police Academy, so fake nightsticks were actually lying around here. "Then we'll hit 'em".

Well, if only we'd thought a little more.

Entering the roller coaster, we're careful and attentive. Every sound could be the end of our trip. Also, hearing the voices of the couple would be pretty helpful. But so far, we hear nothing but the sound of our footsteps. We wander deeper and deeper into the roller coaster, but they're nowhere to be seen.

Somewhen, we're in really deep, so deep hat I'm almost sure we're out again, when Zexion yells: "I've found them, I've found them!". And indeed: two people are sitting on the ground, bowing low over something. It sounds like they're mumbling.

But something doesn't feel right.

And it's not.

Xion had run up to them, already waving and squealing like crazy, when they turned around.

And we had run if it hadn't been for the rest of the zombies to run up behind us.

All we could do was scream.

I try to hit some of them off with my nightstick, but they're too many. It seems like they're coming from everywhere. The kids' screams are terribly sickening in my ears and I'm trying my best to not get injured, but it is impossible to avoid that entirely.

I was on the verge of giving up, when I heard gunshots and saw a bright light. Turning around, I spy two figures coming out of the darkness, firing at zombies and flooding the hall with a bright light, so that most of the creatures are now fleeing.

"Ven!". Roxas runs up to his brother, who is furious.

Furious at me.

"How did you let this happen you sick fuck?! Seriously, who do you even think you are? You were supposed to take care of him, Axel! Not dragging him into a fucking zombie apocalypse! You are so fucked, believe me, once we're home – ".

"You'll never make it home. Or at least not the kind of home you knew".

We all turn our heads when we spy a red-headed guy with torn jeans and a loose dress shirt. My eyes jerk open.

"Reno".

Everybody cocks their heads, obviously wondering why I know that dude, who's accompanied by a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man. "Yeah, we've met them in here", Vanitas explains, "so we've formed a group". I nod slowly. "How come _you _know we're not coming home?". The older one grunts. "We've come from outside. Somebody told us to look in this shitty amusement park. And so we've found these boys. Unfortunately, our truck's been...".

"Damaged", a new voice calls from the background. A lean, blond man in his mid-twenties joins us. As he's holding a shotgun, I figure that he's the one who shot. "Who even are you?", Demyx asks, totally overrun by all the new faces. "Well", the blond says, "We're from the national security". He then pauses. "Well, although I have to assume that we now _are _the national security, but we don't know for sure. However, my name is Rufus Shinra, I am being accompanied by Reno, the red-haired fella over there, and Rude, the taller one". I nod, and when I face Ventus again, he hits me straight across the face. "It's all your fault! Sora went to look for you and he never came back!". I see tears streaming down his face and I know what he's so mad about. But really, this is not my fault. I didn't set a virus or whatever happened free.

"You're all wastin' time, yo. Seriously, we should get goin', before they're comin'", Reno says and once again in my life, I hate him for being so damn tactless. "Reno is right", I hear Rude speaking for the very first time. "The chances to survive in the city are much bigger than in here. And this boy needs help".

It is only now that I notice Ven's sloppily wrapped leg. "Did you get...", I ask, but he quickly shakes his head, still holding his little brother. "No, I wasn't bitten. But I fell". I nod, annoyed by the fact that he seems to be genuinely mad at me. As if this was my fault!

Vanitas, who has lost his brother in the end, hasn't said much so far. Even as we get going, he remains silent. He has all my sympathy and comprehension.

It is not yet dark outside, so we're still sorta safe. Xion, though, is still crying and Zexion has fallen as silent as a stone. It would be a miracle if we all didn't go mad.

We're even more cautious than we were before, simply because the attack in the roller coaster was really disturbing. The longer we stay here, the more disfigured the monsters look. It is pretty scary. Rude casually mentioned that it's the sixth of November. Demyx stares at me, eyes wide. How did these days pass? My lack of sleep tells me it hasn't even been two days, my memory says it's been three months.

We search through a couple of stores, but most the food has gone bad. The only things we take are drinks and clothes, as well as bags and potential weapons because we're badly equipped – Rufus has his gun (I swear he's got more of them hidden somewhere in his weird blazer) and Rude and Reno both carry some sort of night sticks with electrical tasters attached to the tip. No idea what the hell that may be.

Seeing the doors of the amusement park is painful and relieving at the same time. I'm really glad to get out, but I'm also fucking afraid of what else might be out there.

Still, leaving isn't as hard.

Rude takes the whimpering Xion on his shoulders and talks to her quietly. I really wonder what he could be saying, because her crying stops. "Rufus, tell me – why is all this happening? You must know, as you're of national security". Before Rufus can even open his mouth, a certain redhead (who is not me, gah, he steals all my pronouns) interrupts him: "Well, ya see, this lab over in the city was lookin' for a cure for AIDS. And ya know, vaccine is created by creating the illness' cells and hollowing them. In this case, it failed and BOOM, suddenly the patients who'd received the shots were collapsing, dehydrating and mutating, but mostly died after a couple of hours, so they thought it was a one-time thing. But in reality, the mutated cells had already oxidised and were floating around in the air. The rest of the story should be clear to everyone".

I swallow. Of course, I had thought of this, but hearing this as the actual truth fees like a bad joke.

"So the laboratory assistants were carrying the virus around, already having inhaled it. The virus now only spread by exchanges of body liquids, such as blood and sperm. It spread slowly, but steadily, especially since the newly bred creatures were fairly keen on biting people and forming huge groups that attacked human".

I am sick to my stomach. This is a nightmare of the worst kind – reality.

"So...am I getting it right, saying the virus does not spread through the air anymore?". Rude gives Demyx, who'd asked, a quick nod.

We are slowly roaming the streets, still having six miles in front of us until the city started. Ven's being supported by Vanitas, Zexion is holding on to Demyx' hand and I feel a tiny one gripping mine. Roxas' eyes are full of fear and pain, a mixture that wasn't supposed to be there at 13.

But well, who could blame him.


End file.
